Federal Theatre Project
![Hallie Flanagan, national director of the Federal Theatre Project, on CBS Radio for the Federal Theatre of the Air (1936)](/Images/godic/202501/12/Flanagan-Federal-Theatre-Radio3933.jpg")
![Philip W. Barber, New York City director of the Federal Theatre Project, at the opening of Macbeth (April 14, 1936)Salut au Monde (1936) was an original dance drama by Helen Tamiris for the Federal Dance Theatre, a division of the Federal Theatre ProjectThe Man Who Knows All (Robert Noack) explains the kilowatt hour to the Consumer (Norman Lloyd) in the Living Newspaper play, Power (1937)Jack Carter and Edna Thomas in Macbeth (1936)Burt Lancaster and partner Nick Cravat with the Federal Theatre Circus (1935–38)](/Images/godic/202501/12/Barber-Macbeth-19363933.jpg")
![](/Images/godic/202501/12/Salut-au-Monde-Helen-Tamiris3933.jpg")
![](/Images/godic/202501/12/Power-18-Noack-Lloyd3933.jpg")
The Federal Theatre Project (1935–39) was a New Deal program to fund theatre and other live artistic performances and entertainment programs in the United States during the Great Depression. It was one of five Federal Project Number One projects sponsored by the Works Progress Administration. It was created not as a cultural activity but as a relief measure to employ artists, writers, directors and theater workers. It was shaped by national director Hallie Flanagan into a federation of regional theatres that created relevant art, encouraged experimentation in new forms and techniques, and made it possible for millions of Americans to see live theatre for the first time. The Federal Theatre Project ended when its funding was canceled after strong Congressional objections to the left-wing political tone of a small percentage of its productions.